Laura Stevenson

With infectious melodies accompanied by intricate guitar, crumbling distortion, trumpets, and violins – this minimalist and ‘sweetly cacophonous’ Brooklyn outfit will make you smile or crush your soul depending on your current level of sadness.”

Laura Stevenson was raised in Nassau County, New York, where she was introduced to music at an early age. Her grandfather, Harry Simeone, was a successful pianist and composer whose works included “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. Simeone’s wife (and Laura’s grandmother), Margaret McCravy was a singer for the jazz bandleader Benny Goodman. As such, Laura began learning music by “playing the piano and singing in choirs and that type of stuff.” Not until leaving her home for college, did Laura begin both playing guitar and writing songs.

Growing up in Rockville Centre, Laura befriended members of Baldwin, NY’s The Arrogant Sons of Bitches. After ASOB disbanded in 2005, Laura was appointed as a keyboardist for lead singer Jeff Rosenstock’s new project, Bomb The Music Industry!. At this point, Laura had written a number of her own songs and was performing solo. While recording and touring with BTMI!, Laura began to piece together her own band, which was dubbed Laura Stevenson & the Cans.

Initially, Laura Stevenson & The Cans, or simply “The Cans”, consisted primarily of members of BTMI!. In the summer of 2007, Laura took a position as a counselor at Power Chord Academy Music Camp, where she recruited Mike Campbell of the Long Island punk band Latterman to play bass for The Cans. Alex Billig of The Best Thing Ever was added on trumpet later that fall, and a year later Laura began working on her first studio recording.

Stevenson added Chris Parker and Wen-Jay Ying as drummer and violinist, respectively, the following winter. This lineup of Laura Stevenson, Alex Billig, Mike Campbell, Wen-Jay Ying and Chris Parker became the classic, “full-Cans” lineup and they began writing for future releases.

A split 7″ EP with Bomb The Music Industry! in which one original song, and a cover of the other band were put on either side of the record. Laura Stevenson and The Cans performed “It Ceases To Be ‘Whining’ If You’re Still ‘Shitting Blood’” from BTMI!’s Album Minus Band, and BTMI! reinterpreted Stevenson’s “A Shine To It” from A Record. A tour of the United States was booked in support of the release of the 7″ in July 2009, and Laura Stevenson and The Cans joined BTMI! for the month-long trek.

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